Vermont residents will have to put off their dream of lighting up a legal joint for a bit longer after the state’s governor vetoed a bill legalizing small amounts recreational marijuana, and instead sent it back to legislators for some revisions. [More]
vermont
Vermont Gov. Vetoes Bill Legalizing Recreational Marijuana, Sends It Back For Some Changes
By 5.24.17
Vermont Lawmakers Pass Bill Legalizing Recreational Marijuana
By 5.10.17 — Updated: 5.12.17
Your dreams of getting a good buzz in the Green Mountain State have moved one step closer to reality, as Vermont is on the verge of becoming the first state to enact legislation legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. [More]
Grocery Association To Vermont Stores: Keep Labeling GMO Foods, But Only If You Want To
By 8.5.16
On July 1, a new Vermont regulation kicked in, requiring simple text labels on foods — even those prepared or packaged in the stores — made with genetically modified (GMO) ingredients. Then on July 29, President Obama signed into a law a bill that overturns the Vermont rules and will eventually (maybe) create a national standard for GMO labeling, leaving Vermont supermarkets unsure of what they should do about all the stuff they just started labeling. [More]
President Signs Law That Overturns Vermont GMO Labeling Rules, Replaces Them With Barcodes
By 7.29.16
Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell fast-tracked a controversial piece of legislation aimed at overturning and preempting state laws for labeling foods made with genetically modified ingredients. The Senate passed the bill without going through committee or debate, and then the House okayed it without changing a word. Now comes confirmation from the White House that President Obama has signed the legislation into law. [More]
Congress Passes Bill Outlawing Vermont’s GMO Labels, Replacing Them With Barcodes
By 7.14.16
After skipping over the entire debate and amendment process the Senate, and then going virtually un-discussed in the House of Representatives, a last ditch effort to overturn Vermont’s new food labeling requirement is destined for the President’s desk. [More]
Federal GMO Labeling Bill Opens More Loopholes Than It Closes
By 7.12.16
When a pair of agribusiness-funded Senators introduced last-minute, fast-tracked legislation to outlaw Vermont’s new labels for foods containing genetically modified ingredients, they claimed that their new national standard would close the so-called “pepperoni pizza loophole” in the Vermont rules — referring to a confusing clause that would apply the labeling rule to frozen cheese pizza, but not to pizza with any meat toppings. However, a look at the federal bill that was fast-tracked through Congress and appears to be destined for a quick vote by the House, shows that the legislation creates more loopholes than it closes. [More]
Senate Approves Bill To Outlaw Vermont GMO Labels, Replace Them With Barcodes
By 7.8.16
Even though some of the nation’s largest food producers — including General Mills, PepsiCo, Campbell Soup, Mars Inc., Bimbo, and Nestle — have already updated their packaging to comply with Vermont’s new labeling requirement for foods containing genetically modified (GMO) ingredients, these tiny lines of text may be short lived. Last night, the U.S. Senate voted to approve legislation that will not only outlaw Vermont’s labeling requirement, but eventually (maybe) replace these text labels with something as obscure as a barcode. [More]
Senate Bill To Strike Down Vermont GMO Labels, Replace Them With Barcodes, Clears Hurdle
By 7.6.16
The Vermont law requiring labels on many foods with genetically modified (GMO) or genetically engineered (GE) ingredients went into effect last week, but the move by the federal government to overturn that law and eventually replace the tiny text labels with barcodes has cleared a significant hurdle in the U.S. Senate. [More]
Vermont’s GMO Labeling Law Is Now In Effect. Here Are The Labels The Senate Is Trying To Get Rid Of
By 7.1.16
It’s July 1, 2016, which means that Vermont’s controversial rules for labeling certain products containing genetically modified ingredients (GMOs) is now in effect. With both the supermarket industry and agribusiness-backed Senators trying to defeat this law in court and on Capitol Hill, we took a field trip to Vermont this morning to see just what the labels look like in the real world. [More]
Coca-Cola Will Pull Some Products From Shelves In Vermont Instead Of Adding GMO Labels
By 6.29.16
The date when food items that contain ingredients from genetically engineered plants or animals must be labeled to be sold in Vermont is almost here, and lawmakers haven’t managed to strike down the law yet, so food companies will have to print or add the information to items shipped to Vermont. Or they could do what Coca-Cola plans, and not ship the items for a while. [More]
Senators Trying To Strike Down Vermont GMO Labeling Law At Last Minute
By 6.27.16
Two years ago, Vermont became the first state to pass a law requiring clear disclosures of foods containing genetically modified/engineered ingredients. A number of packaged food giants — including PepsiCo, Mars Inc., General Mills, and Campbell Soup Co. — have already made the decision to label their products on a nationwide basis in advance of the July 1 start of the new rules. With that deadline approaching, a pair of agribusiness-backed senators have introduced legislation that would kill the Vermont law, prevent other states from enacting similar regulations, and give companies two years to create a label with little to no information. [More]
Pepsi, Frito-Lay Quietly Adding GMO Ingredient Labels To Some Foods
By 5.11.16
Whether or not you agree with mandatory labeling for foods containing genetically modified or genetically engineered ingredients, the Vermont law requiring this information on food sold in that state will go into effect on the first of July. Some companies — including Mars, Campbell Soup, and General Mills — have announced decisions to implement these labels nationwide, while PepsiCo appears to be quietly putting labels on its products. [More]
General Mills Will Label GMO Products; Calls For National Labeling Standard
By 3.18.16
Earlier this week, the Senate narrowly shot down a piece of legislation that would have created a voluntary national standard for labeling food products containing genetically modified ingredients while also overturning any state laws mandating GMO labels. With that bill dead, it means Vermont’s label mandate is on track to kick in this summer, so General Mills has decided to comply, while still calling for national consensus. [More]
Vermont Lawmakers Mulling Idea Of Legalizing Marijuana
By 1.28.15
Voters in Colorado, D.C. Washington State did it, but if Vermont’s lawmakers legalize recreational marijuana, it’d be the first state legislature to do so, instead of people heading to the polls to push it through. [More]
Someone Made Craft Beer Jelly Because That Is Clearly What Peanut Butter Has Been Missing
By 9.24.14
How often do you eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a frosty pint of craft beer? Not that often, probably. But that doesn’t mean peanut butter isn’t bummed to be missing out on enjoying a cold one while it’s in that sandwich. Rejoice, then, peanut butter: Someone in Vermont has started making craft beer jelly. [More]
Grocery Groups Sue Vermont Over New GMO Food Labeling Requirement
By 6.13.14
Back in April, Vermont became the first state to require food companies to label their products if they contained genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Now various industry food groups are coming together to fight the rule with a lawsuit claiming the law is a “costly and misguided measure” that in the end, the groups say, won’t help consumers. [More]
Vermont Becomes First State To Pass A Bill Requiring GMO Food Labels
By 4.24.14
Yesterday, Vermont’s House passed a bill that will make the state the first in the country to require labeling of foods that contain genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. All it needs now is the governor’s signature, and he’s expected to slap his John Hancock on it soon. [More]
What’s In A Name? Vermont’s New Maple Syrup Grading System Has Some Confused
By 3.31.14
Gone are the days of different grades of maple syrup, at least in Vermont, where the sticky shadow of Canada’s industry makes people take maple syrup very seriously. The state has switched up the grading system for syrup, removing “Grade B” altogether and confusing some customers in the process. [More]
